Death of an Employee

Support

The death of a colleague can bring up a variety of individual and group emotions within a team, and it has a profound impact on work groups. The UO is committed to providing support to employees navigating the death of a colleague.

In collaboration with Canopy, UO's employee assistance program, the University provides resources to support employees and units processing a loss:

For managers and employees looking for basic guidance and support, the employee assistance program has created some written resources:

Job Separation Instructions

The HR team is available to guide units through the administrative processes necessary when an employee passes away: paperwork, benefits, and other logistical matters. The steps below list the appropriate contacts to help you.

  • NOTIFY unit leadership and follow any unit-level protocol for an employee's passing.
  • NOTIFY the Benefits Office immediately so that a Notice of Claim can be filed on the employee’s group life insurance coverage through the university.  You can email hrbenefits@uoregon.edu or call 6-2964.
  • NOTIFY the Payroll Office immediately at payroll@uoregon.edu.
  • SUBMIT an Employee Separation Request Form.
  • CALCULATE the final leave balances to be paid. Include this information in the Remarks section of the Employee Separation Request Form. 
  • NOTIFY the Director or Post-Award SPA of the Office of Sponsored Projects Services, if the deceased employee served as the Principal Investigator (PI) on a funded sponsored project.
  • REFER the deceased’s representative to the Benefits Office (hrbenefits@uoregon.edu or 541-346-2964) for information regarding the employee's retirement accounts and health benefits for surviving covered dependents.
  • REQUEST from the deceased’s representative the return of all institutional property, keys, and employee identification card.
  • COORDINATE with the deceased's representative the retrieval of personal effects from the workplace.
  • COMPLETE & FILE the Separation Checklist in your employee’s department file.